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Tal Teyrn
'Tal Teyrn '''is a trade-haven Shard consisting of a cavernous mountain kingdom and its outlying, labyrinthine network of caves and mines, the Teyrn Underdark. The surface above is blanketed by the plane's Shardbounds, making exploration in any direction but down unfeasible, but windows (reinforced and sealed against the killing fog) set into what were once Talic guard towers overlook a densely wooded pine forest, suggesting a significant amount of the Shard spreads outward as well as downward. Talic markets are renowned as being the most richly populated across the Shards, with all manner of goods both luxury and commonplace available for purchase. The mines beneath the mountain have continued to yield metals mundane and precious, minerals and gemstones, and silks from a population of captured and tamed giant spiders. Which the city guard have trained as mounts. Just so you're aware. Societal structure Gold is the ultimate authority in Tal Teyrn, and any permanent citizens above a certain income level are required to register with and report earnings to the Channel Bank, operated by Tal Teyrn's neutral ruling body, the Channel Board for the People's Prosperity -- both named for the steadily flowing column of magma that provides heat and fuel to the whole of the city. Representatives from five tiers of wealth, with the richest in the city comprising the Fifth Tier, make up the twenty members of the Board and run both the bank and the city by majority vote. Despite the apparent equality of the Tiers in the processions of the Board, one's Tier is effectively his or her social caste in the Teyrn, and its detractors both domestic and in other Shards often denounce it as a plutocracy in this regard. It is likewise often noted that the Fifth Tier is populated exclusively by dwarven families, with humans and gnomes typically rising no higher than the Third and Fourth, respectively. By the Talic culture's approach to free markets, merchants are often more prone to trust members of their own race in business dealings due to a popular sense of racial solidarity -- as such, power largely remains in dwarven hands. The current recognized Board Chair is Brandt Heliod, a dwarven fire-genasi mogul thought to be the second-wealthiest man in the city (and possibly the Shards as a whole). Genasi, and by extension planetouched as a whole, are viewed with less stigma in Tal Teyrn than other Shards thanks to his influence. Planetouched from Jüsk constitute a sizable minority of the middling Tiers, including several tiefling bloodlines both abyssal and infernal, which causes no small amount of conflict with the traditionalist set of the Dominion. Notable Fifth Tier members * Boardmember in Absentia Sybil Garn -- reputed richest woman in the Shards, missing pending investigation * Board Chair Brandt Heliod -- second-wealthiest Notable Fourth Tier members * Boardmember Vyxxol -- highest-Tier gnomish representative Notable Third Tier members Notable Second Tier members Notable First Tier members * Boardmember Strizzix, sole writer and publisher of the Talic People's Voice newspaper * Boardmember Gaz, Speaker for the Destitute The Underdark ''Main article: Teyrn Underdark The caverns outside and beneath the city limits are collectively referred to as the Underdark, once home to proud drow and illithid empires, long-abandoned by the time of the Breaking. Nowadays, the ruins are populated by all manner of subterranean wildlife and remnants of drow influence, including a large spider population, which Talic druids have made strides in re-domesticating. Rumors constantly swirl in the markets about monsters encountered in the Underdark, and more unscrupulous machinists are known for trying to pass off their wares as "advanced drow technology" retrieved from the ruins. The last illithid sighting is reported to have occurred over eighty years ago in a ruined Lolth temple, several days' spelunking outside the city proper. Relationship with the Planeswatch Tal Teyrn is a steady source of work for the Planeswatch, with Watchmen often called to quell riots, clear mines and new constructions of monster nests, provide security detail for high-profile citizens of the upper Tiers, and escort expeditions both academic and venture-capitalist into the Underdark. A decision to summon the Watch is typically passed by the Channel Board, and members are entrusted with Coins of Calling as badges of office. Category:Shards Category:Settings Category:Planeswatch